Work For A Lamb
by Symphonic Fantasia
Summary: With Mirabelle ordering a new flock of baby animals to the shop, Vaughn reluctantly needs a bit of extra hands to help move the animals from the boat to the shop. Lucky for him, he has one person who isn't busy and knows exactly what will make Gwen help him out.


**Author's Notes: This actually took me a while. I wanted to do something involving sheep but getting these two to find way to talk about it was like pulling teeth out. Such rage at them. Ok, now I leave this here and go mow some green lawns. Whoot. And that summary...is really bad. I think it was worse making one for the story then actually writing it...  
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**Disclaimer: Yadda yadda. Don't own. You know the drill.  
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"This one is goin' to give me the most trouble."

Gwen placed down the cool bowl of porridge, looking over his shoulder and down at the paper he was looking at. A thing they did every Wednesday night. Dinner on whoever turns it was. Either one paid for their meals and this Wednesday was her turn. She whistled lowly, moving to sit in her seat across from him. "Seems like a lot for just a small island animal shop. Why does Mirabelle need so much anyway?"

"Buyers will pay top price for an animal raised and breed by certain people. Mirabelle's just tryin' to get to that status," Vaughn explained, swallowing a mouthful of the fairy tale dish. "Not that she needs it but when buyers find out what she has, they'll start buyin' from her and bring more income into the shop."

"I see..." She reached over, sliding the paper over to her side. She scanned it quickly, spotting a few towns that were familiar to her. "Wow, Mineral Town and Castanet huh?"

"Some of the shops there have a good quality of baby animals. I should be able to strike a deal with them when I get there and then Mirabelle can improve whatever she wants when they're in her care." He took a gulp of his milk, setting it down with a soft thunk. "But bringin' all of them from the boat to her shop is goin' to be difficult."

Gwen whistled again, sliding the paper back to him. "I'd help you but I'm heading back home to Leaf Valley this weekend."

"You're finally leavin'? Good. That means you'll stop bein' a pain in my ass." Vaughn narrowed his eyes as a gloved hand reached across the table, taking away his half empty bowl of porridge.

"You'll get it back when you learn to not be such an ass," Gwen scolded, keeping the bowl out of reach. Vaughn only snorted in response, folding up the paper and tucking it away into his pocket. "Anyway, I'm glad that Leaf Valley doesn't have to worry about all that. There's only two ranch's there and we only have cows, horses, and chickens so there's no need for an animal trader to do any business there."

"No sheep?"

"None."

Vaughn hummed in thought before knocking once on the table and standing up. "Thanks for dinner. And don't leave for Leaf Valley. Stay another week."

Gwen raised an eyebrow at this, looking at him suspiciously. "Why...?"

"You'll see when I come back. So you better be here if you know what's good for you."

She glared at him as he walked out of the diner. Her curiosity was already on edge and she was anxious. For Vaughn, he just found a way to kill two birds with one stone.

The week passed on slowly. With Vaughn gone, there wasn't much she could do. She was allowed into the animal shop to help around with the animals but in a way, she felt like she burdened Julia and Mirabelle. They were preparing for the knew flock of baby animals so they were busy and always moving around. It was just better for her to hang around Pierre or stalk around Chelsea's and Mark's farms. When in doubt, there was always the forest and playing with Napoleon on the beach. But Monday night finally came and that meant tomorrow Vaughn would come to the island in the morning. Why he needed her to stick around? She didn't know. But she knew she would find out in the morning.

"Gwen. Wake your ass up. _**Now**_."

Gwen groaned as she was shaken awake. Now that was a voice she hadn't expected to hear so early in the morning. Opening one eyes, she sent a glare towards the cowboy standing beside her bed. "What the hell...? How the did you get in here...?"

"The inn keeper let me in. Now get up and get dressed," Vaughn answered bluntly, moving back to the door to her room.

"What for?" she questioned, thinking about how the inn keeper should really be careful about who he lets into his guests room. He wouldn't know if Vaughn was a murderer or anything like that. "Besides, it's 5am. It's too early to wake up."

"You're helpin' me with the animals. Now let's _**go**_," he demanded, tossing her blanket skirt to her. "If you actually do a decent job, I'll show you something."

She raised an eyebrow at him as he left the room. Show her something? What could he show her that would make her help him? Whatever it was, she wasn't going to pay it any mind. Gwen was going to help for the animals sake. Not for this...thing that Vaughn was going to show her. She got dressed quickly and pulled her hair into a ponytail before leaving her room. Vaughn was already waiting outside the door and motioned for her to follow him. Together, they left the inn and headed straight for the beach. Even though she was just a few steps away from the beach, she could hear the commotion coming from the boat. It's what about 20 or so restless baby animals sounded like and at the moment, she really appreciated that Leaf Valley breed their own animals.

"Well, let's get to work." Gwen looked at Vaughn as he moved towards the boat, pulling his gloves further down his hands. She was sure that this wasn't the reason she came to the Island for but it was always good to help a friend. Sighing heavily, she followed after him, prepared to help with any task he needed down.

Moving the baby animals from the boat to the beach and then to the shop was harder then what Gwen thought it would be. They were confused and moved this way and that way, trying to go in a different direction from where they were being lead to. With so many of them, it was no wonder Vaughn demanded a bit of help. It would have been even worse if she wasn't around to lend a hand. Julia and Mirabelle could have helped too but they were busy preparing the pens for them for when they arrived. So for now, it was just him and her.

Once the animals were tucked safely away in their pens, Gwen sat down on the ground, breathing heavily. "Goddess... I never knew how tough you had it, Vaughn... That's pretty difficult..."

"A job's a job though. Now get up. You're not done yet."

"What?" Gwen asked, giving him an incredulous look.

"One of the cows is ready to give birth. I need your help. Julia and Mirabelle will be carin' for the baby animals we just brought in," Vaughn explained, grabbing her by the collar of her vest and bringing her to her feet.

She stumbled back slightly from the force and pulled away from him. She glared hard at his back as he walked away from her and into the barn. Rolling her eyes, she followed after him. She had some experience with it thanks to Brownie Ranch when Bob's parents owned the ranch but that didn't mean she was up to the task today. Gwen found him beside the restless cow, pulling up the rubber gloves to his shoulder. Without being told, she moved towards the sink, pulling off her own brown and black gloves before washing her hands and arms.

"How far along is she?"

"You can already see it's nose."

Gwen turned her head quickly to the cow. True enough, there was the calf's feet and nose. She wasn't sure how long she was like that but it didn't hurt to help. With her arms clean and the gloves on, she wandered to the cow as Vaughn eased it to lay down. Raising the cows tail, she looked up at Vaughn. "Do you have the chains ready?"

Vaughn shrugged the chains off his shoulder, handing them over to her. "You know what you're doin'?"

"It isn't my first time doing this..." Gwen muttered. She prepared the hooks around the calves, motioning for Vaughn to come closer. "She's all ready."

He moved behind her grabbing the chains a bit below her hands. "Pull on three ok?" She nodded and braced herself, gripping the chains tightly. "One...two...three!" Together they dug their feet into the ground, pulling with all their might. They could feel themselves moving back a bit more with each inch the calf came forward. Before long, they stumbled back and to the ground, the baby calf now resting on the floor beside it's mother.

The two sighed in relief, glad that they could get the calf out before anything serious happened. Gwen smiled as the mother cow turned, licking her shaking baby clean. She always liked seeing the birth of an animal. She enjoyed even more in helping out when it was needed. It just made her feel closer to the animal. Even if she wouldn't see this cow and her calf again, it was still the thought of it that made her feel warm inside.

Vaughn looked up as Mirabelle walked into the shop, holding a lamb in her arm and a bottle in her other hand. He tipped his hat to her before taking both lamb and bottle into his own hands. "Yo. Take your 'reward'." Gwen looked back at him, her eyes widening at the sight of the small lamb in his arms. She opened her mouth to say something but he immediately told her to stop. "Think of it as payment for helpin' me with the livestock she just order. Now hurry up and take 'im."

She didn't need to be told twice. Immediately she took hold of the lamb and cradled it in her arms before taking the bottle from Vaughn. The lamb immediately reacted, reaching desperately for the bottle's nipple. A small laugh escaped her as the animal hungrily devoured the contents inside the bottle, happy to be fed it's milk. "Aww, how cute. Thanks, Vaughn."

"Don't thank me. You earned it for helpin' me."

"I guess that means I'm not getting a 'thank you' from you?"

Vaughn leered at her, earning a grin from the blonde in return. "Don't push your luck." He stood up, pulling the rubber gloves off his arms and hands. "Put him back with the others when he's done. You can leave after that." He walked away from her as she muttered an 'ok' to him. Stopping in front of barn door, brought his hat lower down his face. He couldn't believe he was going to say this... "...Thank you..."

Gwen looked up at him, a moment of surprise crossing her features before she relaxed into a smile. "You're welcome."


End file.
